Machine for molding bullets



UNTTen STATES ATENT OFFICE.

MACHINE Foa MoLDlNe BULLETS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. g, dated March 6, 1566antedated March 2, 1886.

To all whom t't may concern:

Beit known that we, LEWIS HEBARD and WILLIAM S. BROWN, of Lexington, inthe county of Santa Clara and State of California, have invented a newand useful Improvement in Machines for Molding Bullets; and we do herebydeclare that the following is a full, clear, and exact descriptionthereof, which will enable others skilled in the art to make and use thesame, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part ofthis specification, in which- Figure lis a plan of a machine madeaccording to ourinvention, showingparts thereof in section cut along theline y of Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is an elevation of a vertical section taken onthe line x of Fig. 1. Figs. 3, 4, and 5 are detailed views of several ofthe parts.

Similar letters of reference indicate like parts.

The object of this invention is to produce an automatic machine whichshall feed the leaden rod from whiclrbullets are to be made to themolding devices, separate a sufficient portion for a bullet, mold theportion cut off, and remove from the edges of the mold any lnetal thatmay protrude thereout.

A designates a frame and platform which sustain the operative parts ofthe machine. F and Gr are cam-Wheels placed in horizontal positions onvertical shafts, upon whose lower ends are iixed gear-wheels F G', whichmesh with each other, and which are driven by a crank, K, andpinion-Wheel I, or by any other convenient device. The cam-wheels havecams c formed on their periphery, six in number on.

each wheel in the present illustration. The face of each cam on thewheelF has a groove, i, which extends from the toes of the cams for thedistance of about one-third of their respective faces. The object ofthese grooves is to receive the end of a pusher, O. which passescentrally through the half-.mold Pl. (See Fig. 4.)

which is turned toward the feeding-wheel carries a tube, E, of asuitable size to receive the leaden rod or bar from which the bulletsare to be cut, and the front'of said tube is slotted, as

at t, Fig. 5. to expose such bar to the contact of the teeth U of thefeed-wheel. When a bar of lead is being fed through the tube its lowerend is clasped by the ends of springs s, whose office is to produceenough friction on the leaden bar to prevent it from pressing with itswhole weight on the molds and cutting' devices of the machine, but notenough to prevent the descent of the bar when the molds and cutters areout of its way.

J J are shears, whose outer ends are pivoted to a cap, L. Their innerends are extended between the cam-wheels and terminate just beyond aline which would pass through the axis of said wheels. Said inner endsare are provided with dies f j', which extend across both shears, andwhich are brought together and forced apart by means of wedges g g, oneof which is fixed on each shear. The ends of the dies are held in placeby caps c, the cap which belongs to the shear J having been removed inthe views given in Figs. 1 and 3 in order to show the positions of thedies and one of the wedges. The shears are forced apart by the action ofsprings a a, placed between their shanks, and they are brought towardeach other by the impact of the cams c. The shape of the wedges isillustrated in Figs. 1 and 3, the latter being-an enlarged view. Itsoutline resembles two truncated cones, the vertex or top of the innerone, which is also the smaller, being joined to the base ofthe outer andlarger. of the dies are shaped so as to iit against the wedges. Thewedges and dies are each fitted in depressions made in the faces of theshears, so as to be almost iush therewith, but the caps are not to titso -close as to' bind the ends of the dies which lie across the shears.The recesses in the shears are also conical or wedgeshaped, (see Figs. 1and 3,) their lines being parallel with the conical sides of the wedges.The inner end of each wedge has a sharp knife-edge,h, which are broughtclose together when the shears are forced toward each other, and eachdie has a like sharp knife-edge, h, projecting inward from the middle ofthe dies.

' When the dies are brought toward each other these knife-edges approacheach other, and in concert with the knife-edges of the wedges they serveto cut oft' a piece of the leaden bar. These knives arejust above themolds. The dies are forced toward each other when the rlhe inner edgesmade through the dies a't the middle of their length. These springs riscfrom the platform of the bench, and only one of them is seen in thedrawings. (See Figs. l and 3.)

The molds or punches are lettered P P', and are severally fixed to theinner sides of the shears exactly opposite to each other. The mold P'has a rod, 0, passing centrally through it, one end of which extendsthrough the outer.

side of the shear J, so as to come in contact with the faces c of thecam F. It is, moreover, in line with the grooves t' in said faces. 'Pheother end of the rod forms part of the bottom of the punch or mold P'.When themolds close, that end of the rod which extends through the moldP' is forced outward by the lead until its end is flush with the bottomof the mold. At this time the outer end of the rod is found in thegroove i of that cam c which is in contact with the shear J, so that itis not acted on; but so soon as the cam has passed the shear, and thelatter has been opened by its spring a., that part of the face of thecam which is not groot-ed acts on the rod to push it inward against thebullet in the mold P', and thus release it, so that it may fall throughthe opening y into the trough N', which will guide it into a suitablereceptacle. The other punch or mold may be fitted with a rod in likemanner.

M is a lever working beneath the shear J', and whose outer end ispivoted by the same pin, which holds the end of that shear. It is actedon by cams l on the cam-Wheel Gr in the samev way as described of thecams c; but the cams d' are more abrupt, so that they act on the lever Monly at the time when the shears have been brought together. The freeend ofthe lever carries a circular knife, Q', which surrounds the moldP. When this knife is advanced it proceeds along the sides of the moldand cutso' the ridge of lead, if any,

which protrudes from the joint made by the edges of the punches P P',Where any excess of lead will be forced out of the punches. By thesemeans we produce a bullet Which has no excrescence or ridge about it.The leverM is forced constantly outward against the cam by the spring b.l

'Ihe feed-Wheel D is rotated by means of pins U, which are set in linesparallel with the feeding-teeth U', but-which are longer' than these, soas to become engaged in succession by the projecting teeth of cams H,laid 011 the upper side of the Wheel G. The cams H are equal in numberto the cams c, so that the feed takes place in connection with the otheroperations of the machine.

Having thus described our .invent-ion, We claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patentl. The cutting-dies ff, in combination With thecutters on the Wedges g g, all constructed and operated substantially asshown, for the purpose of cutting off the lead above theplace of themolds.

2. The combination of the shears J J vWith the cutting-diesf and Wedgesg, substantially as described.

3. The rod o, passing through the center of the mold P' and operated bythe cams c, as described, for the purpose of freeing the bullet from themold.

4. In combination With the mold P', the

knife Q', for cutting oft' the surplus lead from LEWIS HEBARD. WILLIAMS. BROWN.

Witnesses:

DAN HADLEY', J. G. POTTER.

